Just 72 hours or so after first joining the Cowboys on Thursday, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. saw his first action of the 2026 season... and a decent amount of it. Porter was in on nearly half of the defensive snaps in Dallas's Week 4 win over Houston, seemingly well over the back spasms (and other issues) that kept him sidelined in Pittsburgh. Porter was known as something of an iron man during his Steelers tenure, so his snaps should only increase as he gets further acclimated to his new team.
Caleb Downs and DaRon Bland led the Cowboys defense in reps, with Reddy Steward and Ameer Speed getting big bumps in playing time (39 and 23 snaps, respectively, up from two and four versus Baltimore) in the banged-up Dallas secondary. In his return from a Week
1 forearm injury, Malik Hooker was on the field for almost three-quarters of the unit's snaps.
Newly-signed defensive tackle Elijah Garcia made his Cowboys debut with eight snaps, helping fill the void left by Jonathan Bullard's move to injured reserve. And linebacker Von Miller continues to clock in only sporadically; the eight-time Pro Bowler saw just 14 snaps, hovering around the 25% mark for the third week in a row. With just two total tackles and one QB pressure to show so far on 62 game reps as a Cowboy, Miller's impact on the field has yet to match the expectations that came with him in mid-August.
On the other side of the ball, no big surprises. Tight end Luke Schoonmaker did see a drop in usage with just six offensive plays (the third-lowest snap count of his career), while Brevyn Spann-Ford's reps keep climbing. Backup running back Tyler Goodson also saw a slight increase in his action over last week's Cowboys debut.
On special teams, Juanyeh Thomas was welcomed back with 25 snaps, tied with Markquese Bell for the Cowboys' Week 4 lead. Alijah Clark, Justin Barron, Shemar James, Tyrus Wheat, and Hunter Luepke continue to be major contributors in the third phase.
Here's a full look at the Cowboys' snap counts in the Week 4 win over the Texans.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys CB, Safety snap counts v Texans: How much Porter, Speed played
